Drowning in my rabbit hole..

Ok so im officially all over the place with accumulating coins & trying to search through them for value / future value LOL.

99% of the coins I have are from the bank for face value, pocket change, or have been given to me so I havent lost $ on this venture ...but i need more direction so I can start rerolling & depositing the ones not worth more than face value / not likely to be more than face value in the next 100 years.

I know its semi-ridiculous but everytime i go to put one in the return pile I feel like i may be missing something (error or elsewise) & hold on to it. I do have a pretty good sort done by type/face value at the moment...

HELP! lol.

Lets say for example I want to get rid of all my 1980 quarters but the best one I have or any errors...i cant find any comprehensive guides to errors & what they are worth. I know its somewhat impossible as there could be undiscovered ones...but is there a way i can feel a little more at ease w/ returning them to the bank without fearing I read an article the next day that i lost huge fortune for lack of knowledge?

To try & focus myself i planned to first go through a bunch of presidential dollars i have...i got a whitman album to save the best ones. ok well to be honest i got 2 albums to save the 2 best. LOL. i know...im losing it. but one was given to me & one was only $10 new on ebay.

So i started with looking at the thomas jefferson presidential dollars i have (12 total).

All have edge lettering

3 P mint mark position B that are really shiny....


2 P mint mark position B that im not sure if are satin finish or worn...(though in pics they are starting to look the same...)


2 P mint mark position A that are really shiny....




2 P mint mark position A not sure if satin finish or not....




2 D mint mark position A that are really shiny....

&

1 D mint mark position A that im not sure if are satin finish or worn...

(pics in reply comment as ive uploaded max here)

Sooo i guess im asking for some general direction...at least for the presidential dollars which is where im starting.

 

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2 D mint mark position A that are really shiny....



&

1 D mint mark position A that im not sure if are satin finish or worn...

 

@Charlie Cliques

Forget about the "Position A" and "Position B" bullcrap. It's the type of useless information that some people use to sell useless ideas. The edge lettering is applied to each coin after it leaves the coining chamber, and the "heads up or tails up" position is totally random.

If you're "losing it" while trying to make sense of all of the things that will make you rich, that is because you started in the wrong place. Stop looking for the "pot of gold at the end of the rainbow" and try to learn more about the minting process. Once you feel confident that you have learned all there is to know about the minting process, then you can start learning how condition and grading affect the value of the coins that you examine. Next, you can continue by relating how supply and demand will affect these values which for most circulated coins is "slim and none".

If I sound like I am feeding you a lot of bull, I'm not, but it is probably what you have received if you spent too much time on BoobTube or reading books like "Strike It Rich With Pocket Change". Numismatics can be a lot of fun, but you have to start at 1st Grade and work your way through college in an orderly fashion. Starting with "Errors and Varieties" is putting the bull before the horns.

Chris

 

There is a difference between a Mint Error and a Mint Variety.. In my opinion, If you see it without magnification such as Die Chips and Lamination issues those are minor errors. And if you need magnification to see the RPM's and DDO's those are varieties. Both are not worth it with really no huge premium. Cash in your hoard of coins and go to a website that sells true mint errors and varieties and stop wasting time. Sorry but I don't drive myself crazy for such minor issues. I've been collecting mint errors for 34 years and for the past 15 years I purchase them. I might go through a jar of coins for friends and family every oncebin a while but I realize that there have been trillions of coins struck over the decades and the chances of finding something major is very slim.

Coin shops and coin shows are also another source of acquiring errors and varieties.

Good luck

 

As the others have said, try to learn and study as much as you can about the minting process. As you begin to understand how coins are made, it will become easier to determine damaged coins (amazing how many are circulation) from true errors and varieties (It's even hard to find even the ones that have no extra value).

Don't worry about missing something. Chances of you coming across something that you could sell for more than $1 is very low. REmember, the high value errors are worth something because they are extremely rare.

 

What they said and welcome to CT.

 

It's really not clear from you post what your objective is. Are you a coin collector? Or are you someone simply looking for an error or variety that you can flip for a few bucks? And welcome to CT.

 

I realize much of the above (particularly cpm9ball’s post) probably came across as overly harsh, but please trust me when I tell you it was both true and came from the heart. There’s a great deal of misinformation out there today, is doing an immense damage to this hobby, and simply because when new folks learn the truth they’re usually disheartened. Most here just don’t want to see it continue as is why they’re willing to be so blunt.

If you’d like to learn more about your new hobby, please stick around; as long as you’re willing to try, folks here are willing to help. A belated welcome to the forum to you.

 

Well said Books! Jim

 

thanks for your honesty...thats why i came here to this forum.... as much as i do enjoy the get rich scheme dream...in theory...if i really believed it were as easy / likely as it seems in some online articles / videos i wouldnt be asking these questions of a group that seems from my limited experience on here to be a lot more reputable & not looking to get 5 seconds of fame with a lot of viewers to thier posts/videos thanks again

 

[QUOTE="paddyman98, post: 3436573, member: 44615"Both are not worth it with really no huge premium. Cash in your hoard of coins and go to a website that sells true mint errors and varieties[/QUOTE]

paddyman98, thank you for this

 

[QUOTE="Don't worry about missing something. Chances of you coming across something that you could sell for more than $1 is very low. REmember, the high value errors are worth something because they are extremely rare.[/QUOTE]

Oldhoopster, thank you

 

Maxfli, maybe one day ill figure out my objectives... for now, im just having fun

 

BooksB4Coins, I really appreciate the warm welcome & wealth of knowledge

 

Buy this book and you can find out about the minting process and the differences between die varieties and errors. In the business strike Washington quarter series of the 1980s the only variety listed is the 1989 d RPM but it needs to be in high MS condition to be worth anything....you wont find that in pocket change. Cash in your '80s quarters and ease your mind....

 

Razz, THANK YOU!!! So glad i joined this forum

 

Glad to help. These guys on this forum really know their stuff! Welcome and happy collecting!

 

CC, please be aware that the CPG is not the "be all - end all" resource for errors and varieties. Yes, it is a nice addition for the numismatist's library. I have the 2-volume set, too! But, if it listed every variety now in existence, it would be ten times larger than it actually is.

One of the original authors, J.T. Stanton (R.I.P.), once told me that the intent of the CPG was to list only those varieties of the greatest interest and availability. Why bother listing varieties that were impossible to find?

I just don't want to see you spending $75, or so, until you have gained a little more knowledge.

Chris

 

Chris I completely agree it is a start only. I still need to pick up volume 1. Here is a picture of my very modest "library". Learning about specific known varieties helps one to identify those not listed. Some of these are outdated but all have very interesting information, imo. Definately not the least expensive way to go to start your education but I like books, always have and always will.

 

Fair enough. Having fun is numero uno. But just understand that if it's difficult for us to grasp what you're wanting to do, then it's equally difficult to give you worthwhile feedback.

First step in the learning process would be to put this notion out of your head. You're talking needle-in-a-haystack (or worse) probabilities. People who promote such schemes online do so for one reason: to get traffic and clicks that will enhance their value to advertisers.